G.I.S. EIRE • Etudes irlandaises Réseaux et Enjeux

A GIS is a “group of scientific interest” that connects researchers who are affiliated with existing research units in French universities and abroad. These units support the GIS through a financial contribution, and the GIS supports the actions proposed by its steering committee within the framework of the proposed themes.

The SOFEIR is not intended to develop specific scientific projects: as a learned society and associative structure (Loi 1901), its role is to ensure the circulation of information, to connect Irish studies scholars in France through the organization of its annual conference, and thanks to its links with other learned societies in France (SAES, AFEA) and abroad (EFACIS, IASIL). It supports symposia and scientific activities and offers scholarships for mobility or research to Masters, PhDs and Postdoc students.

The objective of the GIS is to provide a scientific project and to focus on the study of selected topics over a short period of 3 or 4 years.

It promotes networking among researchers in Irish studies throughout France. Over the past decade, a number of projects have arisen, aiming to promote networks in France, from masters’ projects, to initiatives to federate structures at academic level (Paul Brennan, Catherine Maignant). The current diplomas and curricula or the reconfiguration of research teams as well as the dwindling funding of research in the humanities, and in particular the funding of doctorates, have made these synergies difficult.

The GIS EIRE thus reaffirms the relevance of Ireland as a field of research in the light of the recent (political, economic, cultural, artistic and societal developments that have affected it, but also considering the evolution and renewal of critical paradigms, methodologies and technologies.